Everglades Pygmy Sunfish (Elassoma evergladei "Green Swamp")

Remarks:  One of the most coveted North American native fish within the hobby is the Everglades pygmy sunfish (Elassoma evergladei). These shy micropredators have gained popularity for the spectacular coloration of breeding males. When spawning or sparring, dominant male pygmy sunfish turn jet black making their iridescent blue spots across their body and fins seem to glow from the contrast. Juvenile, female, and subdominant males are less flashy with mottled greenish-brown hues and less vibrant spots. Stressed or frightened fish will become even lighter and duller in color, turning tan or cream.

  As their name indicates, the Everglades pygmy sunfish was originally associated with the Everglades in south Florida. Modern surveys have found their range, however, is far broader. Everglades pygmy sunfish can be found from the Cape Fear River in North Carolina, to Mobile Bay in Alabama, and down to the Everglades in South Florida. The habitats they call home consist of shallow, tannin-stained, vegetation rich, sluggish, pollutant-free, muddy-bottomed waterways and pools. While most in their genus can also be found in blackwater, the Everglades pygmy sunfish is the only one that seems to only occur in it. Such habitats naturally fluctuate in both depth and temperature as the seasons change, some almost completely drying out during parts of the year. Such fluctuation has made pygmy sunfish fairly adaptable in regards to hardness, pH, and temperature, but they still are sensitive to pollutants so frequent water-changes and a mature aquarium are needed. To see their best coloration and have them thrive long-term, we recommend keeping them in slightly acidic, tannin-stained, moderately hard, and room temperature parameters.

  Considering their tolerance of water parameters, the difficulty in keeping the Everglades pygmy sunfish lies mostly in how picky they are. These micropredators almost never take to dry/prepared foods with most requiring tiny, live foods like moina/daphnia or baby brine shrimp when first introduced to a tank. Sometimes they can be weaned on tiny frozen foods by slowly mixing it into live food feedings, gradually increasing the ratio of frozen to live over time. The same method can be used for trying to train them to take prepared foods, but this is almost never successful. Some, especially wild-caught fish, may never even accept frozen foods. Due to this, we only recommend keeping pygmy sunfish if you are able to provide them small, live foods at least once or twice a day to keep up with their picky appetite and fast metabolism.

    Everglades pygmy sunfish are true nano fish. While dominant males are capable of growing to 1.3” in length, most never exceed 0.9”. Such small size combined with their very shy personalities can make finding tankmates that won’t eat or stress them out challenging. Pygmy sunfish are best kept in a species only set up with plenty of hiding spots to break up male territories if keeping multiple. A single pair can be kept in a tank as small as 5 gallons, but 10 gallons or more is needed for multiple pairs or keeping them in a community. If you do not want to do a species only tank, the best options for tankmates are small, schooling species that stay toward the middle or top of the tank such as very small tetras and rasboras. Least killifish (Heterandria formosa) are an excellent choice if sticking to North American natives.

  Within the Elassoma genus, there are currently seven recognized species. However, many argue that the different, considerably isolated populations of Elassoma evergladei should be split further based upon genetic and morphological differences amongst them. To preserve the genetics of each population, serious fishkeepers place great importance on tracking collection points and not mixing them. The Everglades pygmy sunfish we currently carry were collected from the Green Swamp in west-central Florida.